I was in Baton Rouge a few months ago and my friends and I were at the City Cafe enjoying dinner and catching up on things. I was elbows deep into a tray of boiled crawfish when I thought of a story that I wanted to share. As a lead in, I said, “You know that radio show I’m doing…” I wasn’t even looking up when said it. My focus was on the tails in front of me, but instead of “Uh huhs and “Yeahs”, there was complete silence. Looking up from my platter, I was met with nothing but puzzled and confused faces. Duffy was the first to respond by saying, “Um… no? WHAT radio show?” Now I was the one that was confused.
“I told you guys about this didn’t I?”, I said in a somewhat pleading manner. I mean these were some of my closest friends and I would have shared something like this with them right? In a half-laugh, Ken Harelson said, “No, I think I would have remembered that!” No one was mad or anything, but it made me feel a little bit silly. You’d think I’d share something like this with my friends. I searched this weblog and I did find that I made a small mention of it here and here, but I’ve never really shared the whole story, so here it is.
It all started back in September. I received a voice mail message one day from a person by the name of John Iasiuolo stating that he was the host of a radio show called “Computer Outlook“. He said that his show was going to a daily weekday format and that they were expanding their program to include Palm OS as a feature topic and would I be interested in co-hosting? Asking me to talk is like asking a Senator if he wants one more term! Of course I’d like to!
In all of my excitement, I accidentally erased the message instead of saving it. I frantically attempted to retrieve it, but there was not such option on my voice mail. Thankfully Google came to my rescue and not only found me their web site, but a contact number! I quickly dialed the number and I must have sounded like someone who ran in from the rain when John answered the phone. I explained who I was and confirmed that they were indeed interested in having me co-host. Woo hoo!
John went into a lot more detail explaining the fact that now that the radio program was a daily weekday show, they had a great deal more freedom in creating “feature” shows. Specifically, what they wanted to do was make the 3rd Thursday of each month a show about Palm OS and the “Handheld Lifestyle” They had found me through InterPUG and thought that I would make for a knowledgeable person to co-host the show. The show is broadcast out of Las Vegas, but they said that I could easily participate via telephone, so it didn’t mean any travel or crazy schedule in order to participate.
I of course jumped at the opportunity, but I kind of kept it under my hat because I wasn’t sure how it would pan out. I wasn’t familiar with the show and they didn’t know if I would be any good. Heck, I didn’t know if I would be any good. I’ve never done a radio program, so I had no idea if I’d be any good. I thought I might do OK, but I could just see me putting my foot in my mouth, accidentally cursing, or something equally stupid. Since the show is broadcast live, I could just see me being shown the door after getting all excited about a new product and blurting out, “Oh man, that is the sh*t!” before me my brain could stop my mouth. 🙂
The show is done in a talk radio format, so it’s very laid back and conversational. This made it fairly easy for me to slide right in for my first show. Luckily, I had no trouble keeping my mouth in check and not putting my foot in it. By the end of the first show I was very excited and thankful that they’ve allowed me to stay on as co-host. It’s a blast!
Since my fist show back in September, I’ve been working hard to make the show better and better. Thanks to John, he’s given me a lot of leeway to try out my ideas and most of them have stuck. We’ve added a news segment, a deal of the month and brought in a lot of good guests. It almost feels like my own show, which is quite a statement to make. This is John’s baby and for him to allow me to run unfettered has not only made the experience fun, it’s made it a real education. I’m very grateful for the opportunity and I’m trying to make the most of it.
So now every 3rd Thursday, at 7:00pm CST/CDT, you can catch me live on KLAV 1230AM out of Las Vegas, or via the Internet at this link. I’ll try and do a better job promoting it and letting you know what’s coming up in the future and I plan on posting show notes and archives of past shows.